


Untitled

by writeranthea



Category: 18th Century CE RPF, Historical RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crush at First Sight, First Dates, First Kiss, Flirting, Friends to Lovers, M/M, One Shot, Romantic Fluff, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-08 13:54:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20836583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeranthea/pseuds/writeranthea
Summary: “It’s a nice place.”“I told you,” Friedrich said with a soft laugh. “I found it by coincidence, really.”Just like I found you.





	Untitled

**Author's Note:**

> Just one of the many stories to which I was inspired during my recent trip to Potsdam :-) I know that it's very unusual for me but it's really nothing but G-rated fluff... xD
> 
> I typed the biggest part of this on my phone at the airport and during my (delayed) flight home, so please excuse any mistakes.
> 
> A/N: I posted this story on AO3. If you see it on any other website or platform, please consider that I did not consent to it.

It would’ve been a blatant lie if Friedrich would’ve said that he wasn’t terribly nervous.

Oh, _that_ would’ve been a lie if he ever would’ve said one, because he couldn’t remember the last time, or any time, really, where he had dressed and undressed four times because he had stared into the mirror long enough to end up being unhappy with the way his outfit had turned out. So yes, Friedrich was nervous; so, so nervous of making an utter fool of himself during course of the date with his fellow student. He had met Giacomo by coincidence, really, for the seat next to the man, who had turned out to be three years younger than him, had been the only free one on the seminar room, and it had merely been when they had sat next to each other for the third time in a row that they had held a conversation which had gone further than a simple greeting. Friedrich’s nervousness wasn’t easing up on him as he stood in front of the mirror, checked out his fifth outfit of the evening and remembered just how much of a fool he had made of himself during said first conversation.

_His heart had absolutely not somersaulted when he had spotted the young man sitting in his seemingly destined chair in the front of the seminar room and whose attention had been entirely fixed upon the phone in his hand. _

_The chair to the younger man’s left had been empty, as it had been the past two weeks, but Friedrich definitely hadn’t hurried to claim the free chair as his before he would lose it to another. _

_“Hey,” he had breated out, and his face definitely hadn’t felt a but too warm out of the sudden when the already seated amn had looked up and at him with an honest smile on his face. _

_“Hey.” _

_While Friedrich had set down his bag and had shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it over the back of his chair, the other man had resumed to type on his phone. Well, and the embarassing mistake had occured when he had placed the paper cup of coffee, which he had gotten from the small café on campus a few minutes ago, too close to the small, college-style desk that no student had ever liked, and when he had turned back around, he had wiped it clear off the desk and onto the floor. It had spilled out the still steaming beverage onto the linoleum floor with a tale-telling splash. _

_Fuck! _

_The heat in his face had intensified within the split of a second as the few other students that had already been present in the room had gasped, some had even groaned in annoyance. He had cursed himself into oblivion and beyond in his mind as he had hastily searched his bag for the one pack of tissues which he had known he had in there, but how else could it have been - he had absolutely no luck with finding it when he had needed it the most. _

_The blood had been rushing in his ears as he had continued his search for the much needed item, and he had only looked up when, to his great surprise and relief alike, the younger man had offered an opened packet of tissues to him with an almost apologetic smile. _

_“Here, take them.” _

_“_ _Thank you.” __Friedrich’s voice had been very close to a simple whisper as he had taken the small packet and had pulled the first tissue out. He had been even more surprised and relieved when the blond had then stood up and had crouched down as well, mirroring his motion, to help him with cleaning the wasted coffee off the floor. __“Thank you,” Friedrich had said, repeating himself, as the two of them had raised from their squatting positions and had moved over towards the trash can that had stood next to the door. _

_“ _ _No problem,” the blond man had retorted, still smiling, and Friedrich had known that the fluttering sensation in the pit of his stomach had no longer been due to the embarassing accident alone. It hadn’t been knew to him, the realization that a man could make him blush and that he had been fascinated by a man, but he yet had to swallow hard as they had walked back to their seats and he had caught himself allowing his gaze to dart down to the other’s backside. _

_Out of all the crushes that he had went through before, the one he had on his fellow student must had been the uttermost ridiculous one. _ _By far. __Hell, he hadn’t even known his name by then. _

_“It’s a shame about the coffee, though.” _

_“What?” The confused question had left his mouth before he had even fully understood what the other man had said with a chuckle, and the blush on Friedrich’s face had deepened even further when the blond had shifted from a chuckle to a full-on laughter. It had been an enjoyable and light sound which the other had accompanied with the gesture of quickly running a hand through his blond, endearingly disheveled curls, and God, Friedrich had no longer been able to deny that he had a crush. _

_What he would’ve given to hear and see just that over and over again. _

_“I said that it’s a shame that the coffee went to waste.” T_ _he smile on the younger man’s face had lacked any of the mockery that he had expected to see there, and he thus had relaxed a bit when eh had sat back down and had joined in to the laughter. _

_“Yeah well, now I really don’t know how I’m supposed to go through Kömpf’s seminar.” _

_“Aw no, don’t say that,” the blond had said with a fake gasp. He had held a hand to his chest, in an equally pretentious manner, as he had looked at Friedrich with wide eyes, and their shade of brown had seemed to shine. “How can you even say that? Professor Doctor Kömpf is the... eminent authority when it comes to medieval stained glass.” _

_Friedrich had snorted, “I see that we’re understanding each other,” he had laughed, and his heard had somersaulted for the second time that morning when his choice of words had brought up another wave of embarrassment to wash over him. _ _Wow, Friedrich._

_“Apparently so, yeah.” _ _The blond still hadn’t lost his smile when he had offered his hand to Friedrich, “Giacomo.” _

_Friedrich himself hadn’t hesitated for a second before he had accepted it, shaking it twice, “Friedrich.” _

_He had expected, any maybe even dreaded for their small conversation to come to an end after that, as they hadn’t really known each other, but the younger man, Giacomo, had talked on. _ _“_ _What do you study, Friedrich?” _

_“I’m majoring in art history and musicology with a minor in Latin. You?” _

_“Art history and Italian language and literature. Which semester are you in?” _

_“9th, I’ll submit my thesis by the end of the semester if nothing comes in between. This is one of the last courses that I have to take.” _

_“Oh,” Giacomo had drawled out, but it had been a sign of honest interest. “Well, I’m only im my 5th. I’ll need a bit longer to graduate.” _

_“You’re still a youngster then,” Friedrich had chuckled while he had tried not to read too much into the way that the blond had turned in his chair to face him a bit more. _

_“_ _Not really, I’m twenty-two. _

_“_ _Yes, like I said: a youngster.” _

_“How old are you to judge?” _

_“_ _Twenty-five.”_

_Their gazes had met, not for long, but he had known what had been coming before Giacomo had even opened his mout to speak. _ _“So that would make you... a grandfather then.” _

_He had shaken his head and had shot the other a look as if he had been hurt by the comment. He had almost stopped laughed when he had been faced with the entire grace of Giacomo’s wide grin. _ _Good God, he had never tried to tell himself that he wasn’t gay... but in that moment he had somewhat wished that he at least could have been distracted by the woman that had walked past him, as he had began to think about how breath-takingly perfect the younger man had been. Beautiful, yes, with his blond curls that Friedrich had just known must be soft to the touch and eyes a shade of brown that he hadn’t believed himself to have seen before, for it had been so deep, so mysterious while shining brightly at the same time. _

_Not to mention that his lithe body, which had been gracefully positioned in the chair by Giacomo having crossed his legs and propped his left arm onto the armchair when he had turned further towards Friedrich. _ _If the blond had been send to earth to remind him that he indeed had been gay, Friedrich wouldn’t have been surprised at all. _ _He had shrugged, had tried to ignore the thumping of his heart, “I mean I would describe myself as pretty much wise, so...” _ _Friedrich had gestured with his hands, a grin returning to his face when Giacomo had shaken his head, still laughing. _

_“If you say so, Friedrich.”_

The only reason that their conversation had came to an end shortly after that had been the sudden, but expected, appearance of the lecturer. Friedrich sighed to himself, his shoulders dropping as he decided that the outfit he was wearing that would be the one for the evening. There wouldn’t be a better one in his closet anyway. If he wouldn’t have been so nervous, he probably would’ve been able to admit that he didn’t look all that bad.

He had combined the dark grey pullover - which Wilhelmine had told him did bring out the blue of his eyes - with a black pair of jeans, nothing too fancy, for which he wasn’t aiming, but yet formal enough for the restaurant that he had suggested for him and Giacomo to go to. He had contemplaited whether he should call Wilhelmine or not, but Friedrich eventually decided to not do it. Giacomo and him would be going onto a date, yes, but he didn’t want to allow himself to think... _further_. He knew that it should’ve been too soon for him to wish for more and while he had an undeniable crush on Giacomo, he never could’ve expected to be met with the same. All they had done, after all, had been sitting next to each other in a horribly boring seminar and Friedrich knew that if he would call his sister and tell her about his plans for the evening she wouldn’t ever let it live down.

The relationship between him and Wilhelmine had suffered to a point where it had nearly been destroyed before Friedrich had eventually decided to pull the ripcord and had moved out of the Hohenzollern estate, away from Berlin and their parents. He hadn’t made it all that far, though. He’d always favoured Potsdam over Berlin, the many parks over bleak prefabricated panel block buildings and even the upton that the Hohenzollern estate had been located in. It hadn’t taken him long to find a flat - even if his mother wouldn’t have promised to pay for all of his expenses, and hadn’t kept her promise, Friedrich would’ve managed. The savings he had would’ve carried him through the rest of his studies and he wouldn’t have hesitated to take a part-time job. He had been glad that he had finally gotten away from his father and while he knew that he would never forget the abuse that he had been forced to go through for almost his entire life, he didn’t want them to play the main role in his life.

Since he had been living and studying in Potsdam, he and Wilhelmine had grown closer again and he even called their mother every now and then. An improvement, even if he still flinched when someone close to him would yell or raise their hand. Friedrich sighed for what very well could’ve been the hundredth time that evening alone as he had fixed the parting in his unruly curls and had secured it it with just the right amount of gel. Other than Giacomo’s, his didn’t look good if they were tousled.

_Giacomo_. _God_. He had to avert his eyes away from his reflection in the mirror, too embarassed to even look at himself. That he was acting worse than a teenager experiencing his first feelings he knew, but he couldn’t help himself. How should he, if he was meeting him in... an hour, the clock on his phone’s screen told him. He could do it. If the evening would turn out to be a complete disaster and if he would scare Giacomo away, he could easily find another chair to sit in every Tuesday morning.

_They had exchanged their numbers after the seminar had been over with and the students had moved out of the room like a flock of birds, everyone eager to get out as fast as it had only been possible and Friedrich hadn’t been joking when he had said that hadn’t known who he had been supposed to get through the seminar. _ _It had been tedious and if he hadn’t been so hyperaware of Giacomo’s presence next to him, his eyes probably would’ve stayed closed for just a little while. But instead of allowing himself to be lulled away by the lecturer’s monotone monologue Friedrich had leaned back into the uncomfortable chair and had, as inconspicuous as he only could’ve done it, watched Giacomo scribble on the writing pad in front of him. _

_He had vociferously cursed himself out in his mind when his face had lit up at the sight of Giacomo absentmindedly drawing hearts in one corner of the piece of paper. _ _Embarassing. _

_“Friedrich?” _

_He had just shouldered his bag when Giacomo had addressed him, and he had tried to not answer too fast. _ _“Yes?” _

_“Can I...” The younger man had began but had trailed off, and Friedrich had known that he hadn’t just imagined the faint bit of color that had stood high on Giacomo’s cheeks and if he would’ve been allowed to grab and kiss him, he would’ve done it. My God, he had been so adorable. “S_ _hould we exchange numbers?”, Giacomo had eventually brough out, his voice a bit less steady than before. _

_“Of course, yeah.” _ _Hell, why on earth would he have said no? _

_“Do you...” _ _He had already passed his phone over to the other before Giacomo had finished his sentence, “I would’ve asked you.” _

_“Oh.” Giacomo had smiled and had reached out to take the phone when Friedrich had hummed in approval. The way that the blond’s tongue had darted out to lick across his bottom lip as he had typed his name and number into the blank fields had been endearing, and Friedrich’s eyes had refused his order to look at anything but that. _ _The blond’s smile had widened when he had given the phone back to Friedrich, who had accepted it with a nod. _ _There it had been, Giacomo’s name and number. _

_“_ _I’ll text you,” he had said most unnecessarily, but at Giacomo’s answer, he had believed himself to have heard his very own choir of angels. _

_“_ _I hope so.” _

_As if he had needed to prove his point, Friedrich had not hesitated to open up the messenger, despite the fact that they had been the only ones still left in the seminar room, had typed a quick message and had send it. He had put his phone back into the back pocket of his trousers just as Giacomo had pulled his out, and he had chuckled when the younger man had snorted at the message he had send to his number. _

_“Sure, I could use a coffee. And you probably too.” _

_“Since my first went to waste...” _

_Their gazes had met for a moment and when Friedrich had cocked his head into the direction of the door, Giacomo had nodded and had followed him. They had gotten coffee from the café on campus and had sat down on one of the benches in front of the faculty building. _ _They had talked until it had been time for Giacomo to get to his lecture and for Friedrich to attend to his Latin seminar, and they had parted with Friedrich promising that he would reserve a table at his favorite restaurant for the following Friday evening._

The rest of the week had seemed to have dragged by slower than it usually would’ve done it. While Friedrich had been as busy with his studies as always, he had really looked forwards to Friday, to see Giacomo for another occasion than the “coffee and cigarette” break that they had established ever since Tuesday. While those breaks had never lasted long, they had been enough for Friedrich to find out quite a lot about the younger man. So he then knew that Giacomo’s family came to Potsdam to Venice a few years ago, that Giacomo’s father was a ballet teacher, his mother an opera singer and that he was the youngest out of five boys

Friedrich himself, however, hadn’t told him all that much about his family. There wasn’t much to say - and he knew that Giacomo probably didn’t want to hear how his father, a well-known and high-ranking general of the Bundeswehr, hated him for being gay and a sissy because Friedrich had refused to get enlisted in the military or how his mother would waste her days away sipping on expensive cocktails and gossiping with women of equally rich and privileged circles.

But to Giacomo, it hadn’t seemed to matter. He never had bore further into the topic when Friedrich hadn’t jumped onto it, and it had only allowed the crush that Friedrich had had harboured for the younger to solidify. Fuck, he wanted him, and while it would’ve been a lie if he would’ve said that part of his crush wasn’t build upon Giacomo’s beauty, but what had allowed it to stay and solidify had been his personality. Giacomo seemed to be always happy and full of life, incredibly intelligent and kind-hearted. He knew that he would be so, so lucky if... Friedrich was pulled out of his thoughts when his phone whistled, and he blinked hard as he reached for it.

Music was still playing from where he had connected his phone with the speakers and the fact that Isolde was already crying over Tristan’s loss told him that he must’ve spend a good few minutes thinking and looking at himself but since he wouldn’t need to walk more than ten minutes to the restaurant, he had more than enough time left. The message that had came in had been from Giacomo.

The sudden fear that the other might’ve cancelled due to second thoughts gripped at his heart, though for no longer than a moment.

_Ugh the weather is HORRIBLE_, the younger man had send him, _So much for a golden autumn :-| :-D_

He smiled as he hurried to type his answer, _Be glad that I told them to reserve a table inside haha_.

When Giacomo didn’t respond right away, he put his phone into the back pocket of his trousers before he began to pack his wallet, cigarettes and umbrella into his bag and turned off the music before he moved into the corridor and put on his shoes and jacket. A look out of the window had confirmed what Giacomo had written - the weather was indeed far from that of a golden autumn.

Thick and heavy droplets of rain banged against the glass and while Friedrich wasn’t all that eager to walk through such a heavy rain with the prospect of having his attire ruined, he still liked it in a way. Rain was... peaceful, in a way. He couldn’t describe it, the reason as for why the steady sound seemed to calm him, but there was a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth when he locked the door and skipped down the stairs. The air wasn’t too chilly, as the temperatures hadn’t really fallen in the last few days, but the air was clean and Friedrich’s spirit was lifted even more than it had already been as he walked down the Breite Straße.

It took him some struggle to fish his phone out of his pocket when he needed to hold onto the umbrella with one hand, and he only nearly would’ve dropped his phone into a puddle as he turned it around. A text from Giacomo. _I’m there :-)_

Friedrich’s heart summersaulted and he didn’t even try to hide the smile that was growing on his face when he typed a quick answer, _Me too :)_

The Palazzo Barberini was already in sight, without being aware of it Friedrich had walked rather fast, and he put his phone back into its designated place as he stepped back and away from the tram that passed by him. He crossed the street as soon as the tram had moved further along. The rain had since eased a bit up and the setting sun had dyed the façades of the Neue Nikolaikirche, the palazzos and the Stadtpalast into a warm, pink light. As if the scene alone wouldn’t have been beautiful enough, Friedrich spotted Giacomo standing at the corner of the Palazzo Pompeii, where they had agreed to meet.

The younger man had headphones in his ears and was looking down at his phone, apparently scrolling, and thus hadn’t spotted Friedrich as he crossed over the Alter Markt. 

He found himself biting his bottom lip as he neared in onto Giacomo. He was just so beautiful, even if he wasn’t doing anything but standing under his umbrella and scrolling on his phone. Fuck, Friedrich was utterly lost in his crush. In order to not frighten him he waved before he took the last step towards him, and Giacomo was already grinning again when he looked up within an instant.

“There you are,” the blond had laughed as he had hid his headphones and phone away in his bag and stepped forward to hug Friedrich in the greeting that they had established between them. Friedrich’s eyes closed for the second that he closed his arms around the slightly shorter man, his wish may have been to not let go of him so far but that would’ve scared him away. He knew.

“So, where’s the restaurant?”

He snorted, “Are you that hungry?”

“Rather eager to get inside.”

“Me too, to be fair.”

He blindly searched around in his bag with one hand, “Do you want a smoke first?”

Giacomo nodded, smiling as ever, and when Friedrich held the opened pack of cigarettes towards him, he took one and thanked Friedrich with a low “Thanks”.

They lit their cigarettes and sauntered down the Humboldstraße, as they still had a bit longer until their table would be available, and to Friedrich it didn’t really matter that they weren’t talking all that much. He could enjoy Giacomo’s presence in silence, too. “It’s this one,” he had said with a nod of his head once they had found themselves standing in front of a restaurant right at the river side, putting his cigarette out in the ash tray. Giacomo did it him alike, and he tried not to stare at his profile as the blond took in the building. “It’s my favorite place,” Friedrich stated as if he needed to defend his choice, though his fear of Giacomo being unhappy with what he had chosen for them had dissolved as soon as he was met with that warm smile.

“It looks nice.”

“And trust me, the food’s nice too.”

He opened the door and stepped a bit aside to allow the the younger man to step in first, and even though Giacomo quickly looked down at the floor Friedrich did catch a sight of a bit of rosy color on his cheeks. He, of course, tried not to read too much into it, but it did help to easy his own nervousness at least a bit. They were greeted by one of the waiters, and judging by the way that the entrance area of the restaurant was filled, Friedrich had done wisely by reserving a table for them.

“Good evening.”

Giacomo turned around to look at him, clearly expecting him to take over that part, and Friedrich nodded sharply as he stepped in front of the younger. “Good evening,” he answered to the waiter’s greeting, “I reserved a table for two, for Hohenzollern.”

The waiter nodded, seemingly absentmindedly, as he had searched the list in front of him.

“Okay, if you’d follow me please.” Friedrich turned towards Giacomo, though why he didn’t really know, but when he did so, Giacomo suddenly reached out to take his hand. It was probably only due to the fact that the restaurant was so packed that Giacomo was scared of getting lost... yeah, that was it. Their fingers weren’t locked or anything, Giacomo merely held onto his hand, but God, it was enough make Friedrich’s heart race and his hopes skyrocket and he really needed to concentrate on walking in order to not stumble over his own feet as the waiter lead them into the back of the restaurant. “Your table,” the waiter said as he gestured towards a round table that stood in one of the window niches, and Friedrich tried to not be too disappointed when Giacomo pulled his hand away.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be right back with you.”

He, in the silence of his mind, identified the music that had been playing in the background as the first act of Donizetti’s “La fille du régiment” as he shrugged off his jacket and watched Giacomo doing the same. “Do you want me to hang yours up as well?”

“Oh, thank you, yes.” Giacomo offered him his jacket together with a smile, latter which triggered one of Friedrich’s and didn’t leave his face as he moved over towards the coat check. The waiter came over towards their table just as Friedrich had sat down in his chair and passed a menue to Giacomo and him.

“The first page is our menu of the day.” The waiter drew his notepad out, “Can I already get you something to drink?”

“I think we’ll have a look first,” Giacomo answered, turning his head to look at Friedrich, who nodded in agreement.

“Okay then.”

With the waiter gone again, they smiled at each other. Friedrich wasn’t sure whether he just imagined Giacomo’s eyes darting down to his lips or not, and he quickly opened his menu before he could lose himself in his wishful thinking. “Do you have any idea what you’d like to drink?”, he asked, hoping that his voice wasn’t as unsteady as his construct of feelings.

Giacomo nodded, “I think that I’ll take the Pinot Noir Rosé. What about you?”

“I’m not sure yet,” he answered. “Probably their house wine.”

The other made a humming sound and they fell into silence as they continued to read the menus. It seemed as if not even a handful of seconds passed between Giacomo having put down his menu and the waiter being back at their side. “So,” he said, the notepad in his hand, “what may I get you?”

“I’ll take the Pinot Noir Rosé.”

“I’d like a glass of your house wine.”

“Alright.” The waiter nodded after he had finished to type in the orders for their drinks.

“And I’ll take the seafood linguine. What about you, Giacomo?”

“Spaghetti alla Carbonara for me, please.” Friedrich simply had to smile when Giacomo pronounced it perfectly Italian, and the waiter took their menus before he was gone again. “It’s a nice place.”

He nodded, and when he saw how Giacomo was holding his hand folded on the table, he had contemplated, for a moment at least, to reach out and lay his right on top of them. “I told you,” he said with a chuckle. “I found it by coincidence, really.”

_J__ust like I found you_.

Giacomo nodded and while he leaned a bit back into his chair, the blond turned his head to look out of the window and all Friedrich could think about was his sheer beauty. He wanted to complement it, but wasn’t very sure if it would be appropriate or not and since he wasn’t eager to ruin the moment, he kept quiet until the ordered glass of wine was set down in front of him. He nodded to the waiter in thanks, then sat up a bit straighter to take the first sip from the wine and he tried to watch as inconspiciously as he only could when Giacomo picked up his glass, swirled its content around, smelled at it and tipped the bottom of the glass up. It was probably due to his feelings towards him, but Friedrich didn’t know if he’d ever seen someone acting that gracefully without even trying to do so.

“Friedrich?”

He set his glass down shortly after Giacomo had done so. “Yes?”

“You never told me if you have siblings,” the younger said, tilting his head as he kept his soft gaze on Friedrich.

“I didn’t?”

Giacomo laughed, “No, you didn’t.”

“I have a sister, Wilhelmine, who’s twenty-eight, and a younger brother. August is only fifteen.”

“Be glad you only got two.”

“Trust me, I am. Those two are more than enough to deal with.” Giacomo took a slow sip from his wine while their eyes were still locked, and Friedrich didn’t know what it was, but he suddenly found himself no longer caring about a possibly ruination of the moment. He just needed to open his mouth and say what had been on his mind ever since they had met. “You’re very beautiful, do you know that?” Colour rose into Giacomo’s cheeks, tainting them into a delicate shade of pink, and the younger man held onto his wine glass for a few moments longer before he set it down onto the table in front of him. He was no longer looking at Friedrich as the blush on his face slowly intensified, probably because he was ashamed of it, and he couldn’t have known that, for Friedrich, it was the most beautiful thing he’d seen in a long while. “Giacomo?”

“Friedrich.” The younger said his name as if it was a plea, as if he was afraid of something.

“I like you. A lot.” _Like_ seemed to be the wrong word to use, but Friedrich rather would’ve kicked himself in the shin than be more precise about what he really felt in that moment. The friendship between them was new and still fragile and even if Giacomo wouldn’t feel the same, he didn’t want to lose him as a friend.

“I... like you too.” Giacomo’s fingers had been playing with the thin neck of the wine glass and this time, Friedrich did reach out with his right hand. He almost pulled it away again when Giacomo’s fingers twitched, but kept it there when it became clear that it had been nothing but a reflex.

“Spaghetti Carbonara?”

Their eyes locked before they both bursted into laughter, which earned them a confused look from the waiter. “For me,” Giacomo said, and Friedrich removed his hand to allow the younger man to move his glass closer to the edge of the table.

“And the seafood linguine.”

“Thank you.” Even when his own order was put down in front of him and the heavenly smell reached his nose, all he was able to look at was the man seated opposite of him.

“Do you have any other wish?”

“No, thank you.”

They didn’t really speak much as they ate their meals, but Friedrich didn’t mind it. Their knees were bumping together and they met each other’s gazes a few times, smiling every time they did the latter. He didn’t want to think about what it could mean, didn’t want to get his hopes up out of fear that it would only get his heart crushed. Their wine glasses were empty around the same time that their plates were, and while Giacomo denied Friedrich’s suggestion of getting a desert, he agreed on one more glass of wine.

“I can do one more, with tomorrow being Saturday.”

“You don’t drink often?”

“No. I mean, I like a glass of wine every now and then. I just don’t drink a lot.”

Friedrich smiled, he wouldn’t have said that, but he had already known that. The endearing pink hue on Giacomo’s face was no longer due to a blush of embarassment. “Me neither.”

When the waiter appeared with their latest order, Friedrich gave out his request for the bill. “We’ll split it,” Giacomo said over the rim of his glass. Friedrich was glad that he didn’t seem to mind the looks they received from other guests due to the fact that they had been holding hands on the table top, but he shook his head at Giacomo’s suggestion.

“No.”

“Friedrich -”

“I’m sorry for saying it, but hush. I told you that it’s an invitation.”

The corners of the younger man’s mouth twitched up and if it wouldn’t have been for the glasses between them, Friedrich would’ve leaned over to capture those curved lips.

He just hoped that he wasn’t ready too much into what they were doing.

“Okay, but under one condition: I’ll pay the next time.”

“It’s a deal.”

Giacomo snorted and shook his head, a motion that made his curls bob and he longed to touch them. God, he wanted to get lost in them. The waiter came back with the bill a short moment afterwards, and Friedrich paid him with a hefty tip. They took their time to finish their drinks, watching the hustling and bustling that happened outside of the restaurant despite the rain while their fingers stayed intertwined. By the time Friedrich reached the bottom of his second glass, he, too, was feeling the effect of the alcohol. In its best way, but still. His face felt warm and the tension in his chest was threatening to choke him - figuratively speaking, of course, and when Giacomo suggested that they would go for a walk, he agreed without hesitation.

Giacomo kept his hands pushed into the pockets of his jacket as they walked through the restaurant. He even kept them there even when Friedrich opened up his umbrella, and Friedrich wondered, for a moment, whether or not Giacomo was already regretting having agreed onto this date. He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat before he spoke, “Are you okay?”

The younger man nodded and took an almost careful step closer to Friedrich, to stand under his umbrella, and Friedrich swallowed again when Giacomo looked up at him with a clearly pleading look in his eyes, as if he hadn’t dared to ask what he wished for, and lucky for Giacomo, Friedrich understood. He walked them until they no longer stood in the way of the passing-by people and closer by the river instead.

“Giacomo...” He held onto the umbrella with his left hand as he, slowly, brough his right up to cup it against Giacomo’s cheek. He had a hard time believing that he was allowed to touch him so soon already, and he stroked the skin over Giacomo’s cheekbone in admiration for a short while before he grazed the tip of his thumb across his bottom lip. Giacomo’s breath had hitched when Friedrich had whispered his name, but instead of answering with his words Giacomo had closed his eyes and had allowed Friedrich to explore the soft skin of his face. Friedrich’s eyes widened a bit as he tipped Giacomo’s head back _and Giacomo let him do it_, and when he leaned down to gently press his lips against Giacomo, the ever-turning gearwheels in his mind came to a screeching halt. Giacomo’s lips were warm and soft and sweetened by the wine which had passed past them and God, it was the combination that overwhelmed him. “I think that I’m falling in love with you.”

He said those words before he had even thought about them, about the _power_ that they had, but when Giacomo’s breath hitched once more, he knew that he had done the right thing by voicing them out. They stayed so close that the tips of their noses brushed against each other, and Friedrich didn’t wait for an answer before he closed his eyes and kissed him again. Giacomo was holding onto the lapels of his jacket - luckily so, since Friedrich wasn’t able to pull him closer unless he wanted to lose the umbrella that was protecting the both of them from the rain. He kissed him until his lungs burned from the need for air, and he kissed a corner of Giacomo’s mouth after he had pulled back to breathe properly. “I know it,” he whispered in a correction of what he had said before, brushing his lips against the incredibly soft skin of the younger man’s cheek before he straightened. His heart was racing, and he became more and more desperate to get a real answer from Giacomo.

“I...”, the other finally began, so as if he had heard Friedrich’s pleasing thoughts, but trailed off before he finished his sentence. The blush on his face was deep in colour, but considering that Giacomo yet had to let go of the front of his jacket and how he had kissed him back, he no longer feared that he might’ve done something wrong. “I’ve never done this before.” His eyebrows pulled together, if this had been Giacomo’s first kiss he must’ve been a natural talent. “With a guy, I mean. I...” Before Giacomo could’ve lost himself in unnecessary apologies, Friedrich simply kissed him again. He had no words to express what was going through his mind in that moment, to express how lucky he was. So, so lucky. He slowly moved his hand until his fingers were buried in Giacomo’s blond curls, and he sighed when he found them to be as soft as he had imagined them to. Giacomo’s voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke, “I know that I’m falling in love with you, too.”

_Fin._


End file.
